Perhaps one of the oldest church holidays is blessed to have a golden halo on top of its name: All Saints Day and alternately, All Saints’ Day.
All Saints’ Day, which falls on Nov. 1, is the flagship holiday of the Catholic church, honoring the heroes of the faith.
Being sainted is a formal acknowledgment of a man’s or a woman’s life, lived in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, in sacrifice and exemplary embodiment of what it means to be holy.
No, I will not go into the mechanics on how saints are selected here on earth, and how long it takes to become officially a saint, or a canonized saint.
I do know that all canonized saints have been given a special day that would allow members of the Catholic church to honor them, and more specially on Nov. 1.
Since All Souls’ Day, Nov. 2, is the next door neighbor of All Saints’ Day, both days share “duties” in opening the opportunity to people to remember their departed loved ones even as they light a votive candle for their favorite saint.
My friend, Rosse G, does this every year on Nov. 1, first offering a mass dedicated to St. Paul, and then speeding off to the cemetery to lay down yellow roses on her mother’s grave.
St. Paul, in fact, in his letter to the Romans said that a saint is a person sanctified in Christ Jesus. All who believe in that precious name are minted as holy by his grace, and set apart for God.
Paul even addressed the church in Ephesus as his fellow saints. And so I am glad that in Paul’s argument, we, the living in faith through Christ, are also saints.
All Saints’ Day is a beautiful celebration to remember the lives of the pillars of the Christian faith. They are our mirrors on how to walk on this earth.
We, the living, continue to look at this mirror and do our best to honor God daily.